Dinos deal Bears first loss of the season

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men’s volleyball team handed the University of Alberta Golden Bears their first loss of the season by a 3-1 score (25-23, 17-25, 25-23, 25-20) on Friday night at the Jack Simpson Gym.

With the win, the Dinos improve to 6-3 on the year and extend their home winning streak to five games. The Golden Bears, who had previously lost just one set, now fall to 8-1 in Canada West competition.

“We fought really hard and didn’t let them back into it, which was super important,” said Dinos outside hitter Hamish Hazelden. “We won by establishing the middle and that opened up the outside hitters, we only had to go against the single block. We know they will play better tomorrow so we have to come out and do the same thing.”

Friday’s game marked the first back for both teams after the holiday break and early on it was evident that both teams were a bit rusty to start the match. After both teams traded points throughout the set, Calgary was able to break away thanks to a big block down the stretch by Lincoln Baines and a pair of clutch kills by Hazelden.

The Bears would not go down quietly as the No. 2-ranked team roared back spectacularly. Hitting at .667 for the set, the Bears attack was propelled by Bradeon Friesen, who led all players with 23 kills, and Jordan Canhame with 14 kills. Max Elgert organized the offence as the Bears executed a near-flawless attack throughout the second set, taking it 25-17.

The Dinos responded in the third set in another tightly contested battle, with the home team inching out a narrow victory. The Dinos’ play immediately after timeouts proved to be the difference as they took the set 25-23.

With the win within their grasp, the Dinos seized control of the game. The Dinos hit an impressive .550 in the fourth set, which despite the efforts of Alberta, proved to be too much for them to handle.

The Dinos and Golden Bears square off again on Saturday night at Jack Simpson gym at 5 p.m., where Calgary will look to remain undefeated at home, while Alberta looks to earn a split against their provincial rival. Catch all the action on Canada West TV, presented by Co-op.